Electronic commerce is becoming more accepted as growing numbers of customers find shopping via the World Wide Web more appealing. However, electronic commerce suffers many problems that have plagued conventional commerce. For example, there is a great deal of competition among merchants to attract and retain customers that actually make purchases. Price competition is even stronger on the Internet, where customers can more readily “shop around” and determine the prices offered by various merchants.
Even when a customer has browsed a merchant's inventory, he may not make a purchase if an item's price is greater than the customer is willing to pay. One way to increase customer willingness to purchase, via the World Wide Web or otherwise, is to provide discounts on items purchased. Unfortunately, merchants must use discounts sparingly, since reducing purchase prices likewise reduces profits and the reduced profits may not be offset by increased sales.
It is known for a merchant to offer promotions to provide an incentive for customers to make purchases. For example, a merchant may offer a “buy one get one free” promotion whereby a purchase of an item yields the benefit of an additional item at no cost. Similarly, a merchant may provide a discount on a purchase in exchange for signing up for a credit card account provided by the merchant.
It is known to provide a promotion among more than one merchant. For example, a first merchant may advertise that if a product is purchased, a second product may be purchased from or given away by a second merchant.
It is also known for a promotion to be provided at the point of sale. For example, a web site of a merchant may provide a “banner advertisement” that allows a customer to go to another site to make a second purchase.
It would be advantageous to facilitate further electronic commerce in a manner that maintained an acceptable level of profits for merchants yet increased a customer's willingness to make purchases.